[Game] The X Factor: Mix It Up! (series 2) Live Show #6

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the quarterfinal of The X Factor: Mix It Up!
Last show, the top seven sang songs from a number of randomly assigned genres. In hindsight, that proved to be quite a challenge to the mentors. It was a pretty quiet show too, probably due to the change in our usually consistent schedule. Anyway, at the end of the day Morgan Sheather and Nicola Marie had to sing for survival because the two of them polled the least votes. There was no sing-off song for Morgan, so the singing part was skipped altogether. The judges couldn't come to to a decision, so the decision was once again put with the public who sent Morgan packing, leaving our girls mentor Kev with no acts.

Tonight, the six quarter-finalists will perform two songs for the first time this series. As a little wink to NTA, the theme is Indie VS Mainstream, in which all acts will sing one song by an indie artist and one by a mainstream artist. Quite an easy theme for our three remaining mentors, but the penalty for failure is high today as not one but TWO acts will be leaving the competition tonight. That means that there is not much space for mistakes at all, as the act with the least votes will be out immediately without even getting to sing for survival.

The lines will open once all six acts have performed both of their songs. Once they have, the DS public (and the judges themselves) will be able to vote for their favourite acts in a bid to keep them out of that dreaded danger zone which encompasses 50% of the current places. But let's not think about that just yet, we have 12 amazing performances to go through first!

Before we begin, please allow me to introduce you to our flawless judges and the top 6 of The X Factor: Mix It Up!
Continuing down the line of generic remixed dance intro tunes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c84wvhDkK0A

jackel1234 and the groups
Black Ivory
Good Question
Princes & Rogues

unclekevo who has no remaining girls

jag02010 and the last of the boys
Ethan Boroian

Satanel and the over 25s
Danielle Blakey
Nicola Marie

I know Justin isn't going to be here for a while, but could the rest of the judges confirm their presence here?

Zak is here right from the start and Jack is dancing apparently, this is the best show of the series already.

I'll see when Kev turns up, he only has to give his opinions so I'm actually not too bothered about him forgetting the show if he has.

Alright, let's kick things off with the mainstream theme then. Tonight's opening performance will be brought to you by the beautiful Danielle Blakey. She will start tonight's proceedings by singing Sweet River Tree by Diane Birch.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SciiCaOAAHs

Danielle Blakey.
Danielle Blakey singing Diane Birch, in my opinion, is an excellent way to open the show. Usually, I would find Dianeís vocals to be a little too low and Morgan-like for you; that is of course, until I found this beautiful performance of Sweet River Tree. I thought the vocals were stunning and I thoroughly enjoyed the intimacy of the performance. Well done, Danielle; I am thoroughly looking forward to your second performance tonight.

You honestly have no idea how much I wish Zak picked this for Nicola as I honestly think this was perfect for her. Back to you now Danielle I wasnít a big fan of this performance and I think itís mainly because the vocals werenít that well suited to you. This performance does remind me a lot of your Lana Del Rey performance you did early on in the competition which if I remember was mixed comments from the panel (minus Justin who adores Lana ). But I think this was a pretty decent performance so weíll have to see what happens with your next performance but yeah nice performance Danielle.

This was a great performance. I think Diane's voice worked perfectly for yours, and this song was a great way to show a moodier, darker side of your voice and personality. I think you sounded divine, well done.

Stephanie: I tried to control it
Tried to maintain it
Tried to contain it
But I failed terribly
And I don't know what to do
I tried to hold back
And accept the fact - We ain't perfect
But what we got goin' on might leave us both with bruises

Patina: Neither one of us wanted either one to say goodbye
But both of us keep hittin'
Keep on on screaming and we don't know why we're in love

Veronica: I'm out so I folded
Bad hand - so I'm throwing it all in
It's no one to blame
Too young in the game for this whirl wind
Let's try to hold back
And accept the fact - We ain't perfect
Cause I love ya
At least I think I do
But Baby!

Patina: Neither one of us wanted either one to say goodbye
But both of us keep hittin'
Keep on on screaming and we don't know why we're in love

Black Ivory.
I absolutely love Sabi and I think sheís a great artist to be paired with Black Ivory. I have to commend Jack on his excellent mentoring of you throughout the competition (especially since that slight underwhelming Judges Houses performance!). I know you have a lot of fans in Soppy and Pingu so I think youíre going to be absolutely fine in making it through to the semi-final. However, I think there is another Sabi song I would have preferred as I donít really like the song itself here, but this was just fine Ė well done!

Well itís about time I gave you this song isnít it girls? To put it simply this was an amazing performance that showed off your urban side, your somewhat pop side as well as those amazing harmonies weíve been working on throughout this competition. Stephanie your vocals at the start were amazing, Veronica damn girl you can nail anything I give you and just overall you girls have been doing amazing in this competition! One thing I know which has been happening is that each judge wants like something different with you, Kev wants you to be urban and Justin wants urban pop and I honestly cannot please both of them as if I go with Justin its omg its to poppy from Kevin and if I go with Kevin its omg its too urban from Justin and its literally impossible for me to make them both happy. All I can is that I hope I somewhat pleased them both (doubts it) but you girls did amazing tonight!

I like the idea, but not the execution. I don't think Wild Heart sounds like anything more exciting than a Rihanna reject, and if you were going to go down the Sabi route, she has more exciting songs. This wasn't bad, but I think this will gardner negative comparisons to Good Question, at least from me. Nevertheless, it was one of your better performances in a while, but it still wasn't entirely all there for me.

Your best performance on this show since week 1. Ethan, you just dominated up there. I loved the song, the performance, the emotion, and the passion. I think that you're 100% on top of your game again, and you're doing amazingly well. I know a lot of people love Bastille, and a lot of people love that song, and I think with you singing it, pretty damn close to perfection. I hope everyone else agrees!

Ethan Boroian.
Hey Ethan! Iím so glad to see that youíve made it this far in the competition Ė especially after that bottom two slip! I think after the first live show choice for Ethan, this is by far my favourite performance from you so far in this process. I think Bastille are the perfect choice of artist, and though I may have preferred a slight difference song choice from them, it was still stunning. Very well done, Ethan - a second performance of this stature and you will be sailing through to the next round in the competition.

I hate the fact your mentor decided now to break out with an amazing performance like this. Literally Ethan this was pretty much stunning for you, I never realised how weirdly similar your vocals are to Bastille until your mentor chose this song and I have to give him a massive hand for this brilliant pick. These last two shows youíve sort of started to become like you were in your first performances which is basically what youíre all about so all I can really say is that your mentor has basically chosen an amazing song for you so really all I can say is bravo and congrats!

Great comments for Ethan, I think it's safe to say that he's truly back in the game now. However, we must keep in mind that only the top half of the acts tonight will avoid the danger zone.

Next up, it's the group that are ironically regarded to be Ethan's rivals. Can Princes & Rogues top the previous performance by singing Harper Lee by Little Green Cars? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkugTh-UdmUNote: Number 19 album in the USA

Spoiler

Jonny: Like a crash I wait for the impact
And like a train I wait for the smoke
Like a storm I wait for the silence
And like a bluff I wait till you fold

All: Oooh thereís a gun in the attic let me go grab it
Oooh Iíd blow holes in my soul just so you can look past it
Oooh ye thereís glass on the floor thereís a hole in the roof
Oooh ye the chandelier fell now the rains falling through

Cameron: Like a dog I wait for my owner
And Harper Lee Iíll kill me a bird
And I sit back and I just watch it happen
And just like you I wonít say a word

All: Oooh thereís a gun in the attic, let me go grab it
Oooh Iíd blow holes in my soul just so you can look past it
Oooh ye thereís glass on the floor, thereís a hole in the roof
Oooh ye the chandelier fell, now the rainís falling through
Oooh I put mice in the kitchen to see if youíd kill them
Oooh oh no you let them live now thereís twelve thousand kids
Oooh oh ye you let them breed now Iíve got mouths to feed
Oooh oh ye you let them stay now they have taken my place
Oooh ye you left them alone now theyíre eating our home

Today guys I decided to have a little risk and let you go full on acoustic and let your vocals really shine as well as your harmonies in this performance. I really wanted this performance to show off the quirkiness of you guys and although I know this will probably be a bit of a marmite performance where people are either going to love it or hate it I honestly think this performance was simply brilliant and let you guys just show off your vocals in a way you havenít before! Bravo boys it was, for me, excellent.

Princes & Rogues.
Hello P&R! I can definitely see why your mentor has chosen this for you tonight, however Iím not so sure Iím a massive fan of it. I thought it was good, but I think weíve definitely seen better from you and Iím now worried that youíre going to be overshadowed by the other two groups in the competition. So yes, this was a good performance but not great Ė letís see what your second performance has to offer!

I wasn't into this at all, unfortunately. You had so many options. SO. MANY. Grouplove, Walk The Moon, Bastille... the list goes on an on. Unfortunately, I think Jack tried to go too indie with you, not in spirit of this half of the theme, and ended up missing the mark. I don't really get why he picked this for you, if I'm being honest. I don't think your style is really suited to 100% acoustic, and I also don't think you're a harmony based group, which just kind of made this a bit confusing for me. I recognize the risk, but it didn't work well for me.

Ok, I loved this, and not because it's Flo. It matched the intensity and military-driven themes of the Loreen performance - still my favorite of yours - and I think that this matched your vocal abilities really well. I'm a fan again after this performance, this is why I saved you and I'm happy I did. I think Flo is much more suited to you than Diane (not sure where that came from, Jack...) and I'm happy that this song went to you and the other went to Danielle. You really differentiated yourself from your competition here, and I love that. Well done.

Nicola Marie.
Hey Nicola! So, I was worried when I saw this mainstream theme Ė thinking to myself, what mainstream artist has the deep, rich tone of Nicola Marie? And then I got to thinking: Florence & The Machine! I love this song Breath of Life and I love you singing it. The vocals were amazing and the song itself is also amazing, which means Nicola Marie is amazing. Well done and I am totally looking forward to your second song choice tonight.

This was pleasant Nicola although I honestly think you shouldíve gotten Diane Birch still . As I said last week we all know that Zak knows exactly what to do with you and I have no doubt in him with you but I just wasnít as amazed with this performance as I have been with a lot of your other performances. It is very brave to take on an artist such as Florence though and I commend your mentor for it but I just wasnít a big a fan as I was in previous weeks. I hope your mentor can bring it back with your second performance.

Good comments for Nicola to start with, but she still has a second performance in store for everyone.

Time to finish off the mainstream round. Hoping to get everyone on their feet, it's Good Question singing U B The Bass by Luciana! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIRLMXJ1UdUNote: Luciana has had one UK number 2. Joelle will take the chorus and few other areas singing like shown in the song whilst Kristina will do the rapping and will both sing together for the final chorus.